Kingfisher Airlines places order for three more A319s

MUMBAI: In a deal done almost overnight, the Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has decided to purchase three more Airbus A319 aircraft at a list price of $51m.

There is currently a long waiting-list for the aircraft and the Kingfisher management had to make a quick decision to snap them up, UB group chairman Vijay Mallya said.

The three aircraft have been purchased from the manufacturer, Airbus Industries. They are in addition to the 10 A320s that the airline had ordered earlier.

The UB chairman said the airline has paid Airbus about $40m as advance payment for all the aircraft. The A319s are smaller aircraft with 144 seats, compared to the A320s with 174 seats.

"They will be used on the thinner non-metro routes in keeping with the route dispersal guidelines of the government," Mr Mallya said.

The current plan is to base the three aircraft in Bangalore, for operating regionally to Hyderabad and to other destinations, he added.

The new aircraft order, takes Kingfisher's total tally of aircraft ordered to 13. The airline also has an option to buy 20 more, which can be exercised in the future.

However, its operations will be launched in May this year with four A320s leased from debis Airfinance. The airline is on schedule for the launch and has already hired 40 pilots, who are currently being trained, Mr Mallya said.

India is not producing enough pilots and there is a need for more simulators for faster training, he added.